


4 AM Coffee Dates

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Coffee, Coffee Shops, Eventual Molly Hooper/Janine, F/F, Female Relationships, First Kiss, Fluff, POV Janine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 20:51:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6024394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on a brief respite from being tethered to Magnussen’s side, Janine rediscovers her local coffee shop and the 4 AM crowd there, including a very interesting pathologist at St. Barts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	4 AM Coffee Dates

**Author's Note:**

> So this is another Femslash February answer, and is specifically an answer to one of **frostlawyer** 's AU prompts (the full list of which can be found on Tumblr [here](http://penaltywaltz.tumblr.com/post/139138402403/obligatory-aus-i-really-want-post)), the " _forced to share a table at the coffee shop a couple days in a row because crowded coffee shop and no room AU._ "

It wasn’t often she wasn’t tethered to Charles’s side. But he had said he had two weeks that he needed to be away from London and he did not want her to accompany him. She was quite glad for that, to be honest. That meant two weeks she could spend at her own flat for a change, two weeks she could spend at her leisure. It would be two weeks of absolute bliss, she was sure of it.

Or at least she had thought as much until her espresso machine had broken the very first morning she had been awake at four in the morning thanks to her ungodly routine.

She glared at the insipid machine and then got dressed, trying to remember where the nearest coffee shop was. There was one in the neighborhood, wasn’t there? That was when it struck her just how long it had been since she had really spent time at her own home. It had been _far_ too long, really. She would definitely need to spend time reacquainting herself. She managed to find it eventually but was shocked by how absolutely full it was at half past four in the morning. Then she remembered she lived near Barts. Of course. If this place made decent coffee of course the nurses and doctors and such would be here instead of at their hospital. After all, didn’t hospitals make horrible coffee? Wasn’t that supposed to be a steadfast rule?

She placed her order and looked for a place to sit. Seating was limited; there was no way she’d get a table of a booth to herself. Getting a comfy chair was out of the question, unfortunately. She could always take her cup and head back home, but she’d made the trek out here. She should enjoy it, at least, before she went back out in the cold. Finally she saw a woman in a cherry print jumper looking at a book who had an empty chair at her table. She moved her way over and made a small noise. The woman’s head popped up. “Could I trouble you for the other seat?” Janine asked.

The woman shook her heat and gestured to the seat. “Oh, no, go ahead. I thought someone was there but I guess they left.”

“Must be a good book,” she said with a smile as she sat down.

“Not really,” the woman said with a grin. “Medical journal. I’m writing a paper so I’m reading it for reference. It’s boring to most people but I find it interesting.”

Janine nodded. “What’s it about?”

“Cancerous cells in the uterus?” she said. “I had an autopsy recently where a woman had uterine cancer and it was quite fascinating and I wanted to write something on it.” Then she turned a bit red. “Probably not good coffee talk, though.”

“Well, you’d be surprised what I can listen to and still keep my appetite,” Janine said with a chuckle. She extended her hand towards the woman. “Janine Hawkins.”

“Molly Hooper,” she said.

Janine’s eyes got wide. “You’re one of John’s friends!” she said. “Mary Morstan is one of my best mates. She quite likes you.”

“Oh, Mary’s a lovely woman,” Molly said with a smile. “I like her quite a bit. She’s quite fascinating.”

Janine nodded. “Oh, she is.” 

There was an order called and Molly perked up, setting her book down. “That’s mine,” she said. “Guess I have to get it and go back to work. Graveyard shifts…gotta love them.” She paused for a moment, then reached into her handbag and then pulled out her mobile. “We should trade numbers. I’m sure Mary would probably love it if two of her friends got to know each other better.”

“Oh, no doubt,” Janine said with a nod. She waited a moment, and then when Molly prompted her she gave Molly her number. Molly sent her a text a moment later, and then stowed her mobile again. “How long do you have the graveyard shift?”

“A week and a half,” she said, making a face. “I’m doing a favour for a colleague. He owes me a few weeks’ premium vacation time for this. Why?”

“I tend to be awake at this time and my boss is away for a few weeks. Maybe I’ll see you around if you take your break around now,” Janine said with a grin.

Molly nodded, grinning back. “Maybe,” she said. “Nice meeting you, Janine.”

“Nice meeting you too, Molly,” she said, and then she watched Molly walk away. Well, _that_ was quite interesting…

**\---**

The next morning she woke up a bit earlier, put some care into her appearance, and hurried to the coffee shop. It was still crowded with medical personnel trying to get good coffee to make it through their shift, and once she’d placed her order she looked around, hoping to see Molly there. She was rewarded with seeing her nearby, having secured two comfy chairs in the corner with her handbag on one. As Janine got closer Molly looked up and her smile brightened. “I have a bit more time today,” she said.

“Oh, good,” Janine said. The two of them had texted off and on the day before and Janine had to admit, Molly was quite nice. She was quite funny, too, having a sarcastic sort of humour one wouldn’t have expected right off. She could see why John and Mary were both fond of her. Molly picked up the handbag and Janine sat down. “Much more comfortable than the chairs yesterday.”

“Oh yes. This place is always busy, but it seems to be even more so in the pre-dawn hours. Everyone needs that last little bit of caffeine to get through the last of the shift. Personally I just look forward to getting off shift and trying to find a place that’s open with a hearty breakfast. The canteen offerings are shite this time of night.”

“You know, if we meet up again tomorrow, I can bring you something to get you through to the end,” Janine suggested. “I mean, muffins or biscuits or something. I’m at home and I feel the need to do domestic things.”

“That’d be nice, Janine,” Molly said with a warm smile. “When the hell that’s this shift is over and I’m back on my regular sleep schedule, I’ll take you out for drinks as thanks.”

“Deal,” Janine said.

**\---**

It went on a few more days like that. They would meet up in the early morning for coffee and Janine would bring Molly a treat or two, much to the consternation of the coffee shop staff, and they would chat. Most times it was for about a half hour, but sometimes it would be for as long as forty-five minutes. Janine found she quite enjoyed Molly’s company. And she was enjoying more than that, though she wasn’t sure Molly felt the same way. Molly was quite pretty, after all, even in the work clothes she wore.

She’d entertained thoughts about attractive women before. She was attracted to men and women and she didn’t hide the fact; there was no need to. But she wasn’t sure if Molly would reciprocate anything of the sort. Molly mostly seemed to talk about men in her past, and that led Janine to think there had only been men in her past. How would she react if she was confronted with the fact that there was interest from someone of the same sex?

She was running late the second to last morning of Molly’s graveyard shift and when she came in she saw a rather handsome man flirting with Molly, trying to take the seat Molly was saving for her. Molly was having none of it. The man was laying on the charm thick; she could hear it as she got closer, clear as a bell even in the crowded coffee shop.

“But a woman as lovely as you shouldn’t be alone. Surely you want some company?”

“I have the company I would prefer coming shortly, thank you.”

“But I’m here now.”

“But you’re not my girlfriend, Steven,” Molly replied.

That statement seemed to turn off the charm in an instant. “Girlfriend?” he said, his tone snide seeming. “You don’t like women. You’ve dated a string of loser men and you pined over Holmes.”

Janine cleared her throat at that point and Molly looked up. She popped out of her seat and went over to Janine. “Darling,” she said before leaning in to kiss Janine. She was surprised for just a fraction of a moment before she kissed Molly back. And, much to her surprise, Molly seemed to melt into the kiss instead of keeping it short and sweet and on the chaste side, moving her hands to Janine’s waist to pull her close. Janine did much the same thing, to be honest; even if this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, she wasn’t about to pass it up.

“I’ll…uh…I’ll just get going,” Janine could dimly hear Steven say from the side as Molly pulled away, looking at Janine with a slightly bewildered look on her face, a look that disappeared a moment later and was replaced with one of horror.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I was just trying to save our seats and Steven, one of the orderlies, he was harassing me, and I said the first thing I could think of, and…”

“I enjoyed it,” Janine said with a slight shrug, sitting down. “I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

“You…wouldn’t?” Molly asked, frowning slightly.

“Nope,” Janine said, shaking her head. “I don’t know how you feel, Molly, but I like you. Quite a bit. And I’d like to see what could happen, if you’re willing.”

Molly sat back down and folded her hands in her lap, tilting her head slightly. “But I’m…I mean, I’m…”

“Only attracted to men?” Janine ventured.

“Mousy,” Molly countered. “Plain. Boring.”

Janine laughed and reached over for her hands. “Love, you’re none of those things. At least to me.”

Molly looked down at their hands, and then over at Janine. “You mean that?” she asked, giving her a small smile, one that got wider when Janine smiled back and nodded emphatically. “Well, that _was_ a rather nice kiss. I suppose…I suppose we could see what happens.”

“Good,” Janine said, squeezing her hands. “Good.”


End file.
